Head packed, feverish, nauseous, the whole joyful package. Can't focus on getting any work done, and for extra fun bursitis flared up in the drawing wrist. So screw it - not going to try to work. Going to try to catch up on a few other things instead. Like the blog.

One of my current favorite authors was in town for a signing a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't able to attend. Damn!
Most annoying. I really wanted to get him to autograph my Bible.

No, it wasn't some time traveling author of the original gospels (or what passes for them these days).
It was Christopher Moore, one of the absolutely funniest writers you're likely to enjoy these days.

So why autograph my Bible? Well, the first I encountered him was quite by accident. I saw a title on the shelf in the library (in the young adult section, oddly enough, though all of his other works are in the standard adult fiction area, where this one really belongs.)

It was called: Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

As one might suspect, that caused a true WTF moment when I saw it, and I had to look closer. His writing is irreverent and biting, truly damn funny, and yet he maintained the feel of one who had actual respect for the source material, if not for the staid and joyless guardians of the Bible.

For example, the book covers much of the "missing years" of Joshua AKA Jesus. In this time, He sought to prepare himself for His destiny, and part of that was heading east to seek out the three wise men who visited His birth. In the far East, the masters attempted to teach him martial arts, but He rejected that. How could He embrace violence geared to hurting His flock? And so they created a new martial arts form specifically geared with Joshua in mind - one that redirected and deflected an attacker's energy rather than seeking to directly hurt. And they called it "The Way Of The Jew", or Judo.

It takes a seriously twisted individual to come down that convoluted path and make it work, and Chris Moore is just the twisted freak to do it. His books are hilarious, outrageous, and just plain damned fun to read.
Who else could make "heinous fuckery most foul" his trademark phrase in recent novels?

Since discovering Lamb, I've gone back and read every book he's written, except the first - Practical Demonkeeping. Got to save something for when there's nothing else to enjoy.

His latest book, You Suck: A Love Story, came out at the beginning of the year. It's a sequel to his earlier Bloodsucking Fiends. I recommend it, as I do all his novels, but you might want to read them in order of publication. While You Suck stands entirely on its own, and everything you need to know from the first book is recapped in the narrative, you'll miss little references if you haven't read his previous novel - A Dirty Job, as well as the original Bloodsucking Fiends.

So here's a list of his books in order:

Practical Demonkeeping
Coyote Blue
Bloodsucking Fiends
Island of the Sequined Love Nun
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror
A Dirty Job
You Suck: A Love Story

Go read them - I think you'll enjoy them.
I know damn well I have!